Milk Run II
by Benji The Vampire Confuser
Summary: The Death Star has been destroyed, but the Empire is far from defeated. Meanwhile, the crew of Serenity have thrown in their lot with the rebellion, but some of them fit in better than others. But one of the Emperor's most skilled minions has been put on the trail of River and her brother.


**Milk Run II**

**by Benji: The Vampire Confuser**

_based on characters and situations created by George Lucas and Joss Whedon. This is a work of fan fiction and no copyright infringement is intented, nor is any money being made._

**Chapter 1**

One thing you learned quickly, when you were the supreme ruler of the galaxy, was how to delegate. The galaxy after all was a very big place. And no matter how powerful you were, you simply could not take care of all that by yourself. Besides at the Emperor's level of authority, there were plenty of things that were beneath your notice.

The Emperor's closest, and most "trusted" servants were his apprentice, and his hands. He called them his hands. His right, and his left.

"Excuse me!" a harried voice called out.

The Left turned from his examination of the holo recording. The administrator of the facility was hurrying towards him, looking none too happy. "No one is allowed down here without my authorization."

"My apologies." the Hand said sincerely. "But I preferred to examine the event without...bias."

"I need to see your clearance."

"And you're right to insist." He'd wondered how long it would take them to realize he was here. He had noticed approvingly, that security was indeed tighter than it had been. They had learned their lessons well and that was to their credit. But being who he was, there were few Imperial facilities he could not penetrate, either publicly, or covertly.

He slipped is ID card into the terminal, displaying his credentials. The Administrator paled when he realized who he was dealing with.

"I beg your pardon." he croaked. "The...that is, you'll of course receive full cooperation. But why would-"

"Let's talk about the Tams." the Hand interrupted him. He had little patience for platitudes or ridiculous questions. "River was your greatest achievement. A prodigy. Until her brother walked in, and took her from you."

The fact that he had been given the assignment was significant. Up until now, the search for River and her brother had been constant, but very generalized. But something had happened recently, that had made it more urgent. The Emperor had decided the search needed some personal attention.

"I-It's not quite that simple."

"I'm well aware of that."

"There was no way we could-"

"Oh no." the Hand assured him. "The boy spent a fortune on the contacts needed to infiltrate this place." It had been a remarkable achievement really. Shame all that talent and intelligence had to go to waste.

"Gave up a brilliant career in medicine too." the Administrator said. He was beginning to recover his confidence. The Hand was good at that. "It's madness."

"Madness?" Why was it every time people ran into a type of behavior they didn't understand they labeled it as insanity? "Have you taken a good look at this recording? At his eyes?"

He looked closely at it himself. There was a reason he was assigned certain types of work. Why he had risen to the heights he had. He understood. As much insight as the force gave those who were sensitive to it, it could also blind them. Sometimes you needed a force blind person to see things clearly.

"It's love," he said softly, "In point of fact. Something a good deal more dangerous."

The Administrator was not a sentimental man. Emotions like love were abstracts that couldn't be measured, and he wasn't comfortable with things that couldn't be categorized or dissected. And hearing words like 'love' coming from a man such as this, was unnerving.

"Why are you here?"

"Do you know what your sin is Doctor?"

What? "I wonder if you-"

"It's pride." the Hand sighed. He set the recording back to an earlier moment.

"Key members of the Senate have personally observed this subject." the recording of the Administrator bragged to Simon.

"Key, members, of the Senate." the Hand quoted. "Your job was to increase River Tam's connection to the force. And you put her in the same room as the minds behind every military, covert, and diplomatic decision in the Empire."

The Administrator was back to being afraid. That was okay. The Hand had gotten what he'd needed.

"Look, if, if there was some classified information that she accidentally gleaned...it's probable that she doesn't even know she knows it. Buried, under layers of psychosis." Then, desperately; "I don't know what it is."

"Nor do I, and judging by her deteriorating mental state I'd say we're both better off." He had a few guesses, but that wasn't his job. "Keeping them, is." He was almost done here. There just remained one thing left to do. It wasn't a part of his duties that he relished, but he recognized the necessity.

"You know, on certain civilized worlds, when men have failed as completely as you have. They throw themselves on their swords."

The Administrator was backing up towards the exit. "Oh, w-well unfortunately I don't have-"

The Hand opened his case and pulled out a long, elegant vibroblade. It was no lightsaber, but it was fine for him.

"No," the man before him pleaded, not thinking to turn and run, which probably would have availed him better. He continued to back away.

"Would you be killed in your sleep like an ailing pet?" The Hand asked. "Whatever your transgressions, I believe you deserve better than that."

That did it. The man broke and ran. But he didn't get very far. A quick jab to a nerve cluster in the small of the man's back immobilized him. The Hand then crouched, bracing the hilt of his blade against the floor. When the Administrator lost his balance and fell forward onto it, the humorous thought crossed the Hand's mind, that it was a good thing he hadn't fallen backwards. That would have been embarrassing for them both.

His heart went out to the dying man. He had done his best. And his best really was very good. But great men make great mistakes, and great mistakes couldn't be tolerated. "This is a good death." he told him gently. "There's no shame in this, the death of a man who has done fine works."

He didn't think the man was very comforted. They seldom were, and the Hand supposed he couldn't blame them. If the time came that he himself had to be killed, would he feel any different? Not that those who would need to do the job were likely to be as compassionate as he was.

When the deed was done, he rose, and began to clean off the blade. It was time to go. And he had the feeling he would be doing a lot of traveling.

"Where are you hiding?" he mused aloud.

* * *

"Were are you hiding?" Threepio called out huffily. "River! River Tam where-" His calls were cut off as a snowball hit him square in the face. "Oh!" he cried.

River giggled and scampered from one mound of snow to another before Threepio could spot her.

The beleaguered protocol droid despaired. What had he done to deserve this? Looking after the young woman had to be a punishment for some grievous wrong.

"Stop that this instant!" he ordered. A military base was no place for a high spirited girl like her anyway. "It will be time to go in soon and it's already too cold for my tastes!" Aha! Now he'd spotted her. With another snowball. No, wait, two. One in each hand. "Put those down!" He raised his hands in a warding off gesture.

But before River could let fly, Kaylee leaped at her with a double handful of snow, which she promptly dumped down her friend's coat. Shrieking with laughter the two girls began chasing each other around.

"Thanks Threepio!" Kaylee laughed. "You distracted her perfectly!"

* * *

Biggs was startled to see two figures emerge from the snowbanks near the entrance to the base. He pulled his Tauntaun up short, and raised his hands in surrender. "Don't shoot ladies, I come in peace."

They hesitated, then threw their snowballs at him anyway.

"Well, I see security's doing it's job." Mal said, emerging from the door. "Some of 'em anyways. Kaylee, ain't you supposed to be retrofittin' some snow speeders?"

"Just takin' a short break Cap." Kaylee said, slightly defensively. "Not even I can stay cooped up in an engine all the time. 'Sides Artoo said Threepio might need a break too."

"Well then, take 'er with you." he ordered. "We can't be relyin' on Tauntauns for everything. The Tatooine boys're the only ones who can stand 'em." He glanced over at Biggs, who was watching the interplay with bemusement.

"Speakin' of which, ain't you one short of a pair?"

"Luke'll be along." Biggs assured him. "He said he wanted to check out a meteorite that fell near him."

Mal shrugged. "Boy just can't keep from sight seein' can 'he. Well, long as he gets back 'fore dark." He turned back to Kaylee and River, gesturing them inside. "You two, back to work."

River stuck her tongue out at him, Kaylee just glowered, then sighed and pulled River along. Mal had been out of sorts for a while now. Though probably no one who didn't know him as well as his crew did would have noticed.

It had started when Inara left.

* * *

On the whole, Zoe did not care for officers. In her experience they tended to be pompous, arrogant, and completely out of touch with the rank and file, and less than concerned about them. But there was something about many of the Rebellion's leaders that she was coming to approve of. Even, most surprisingly, Leia.

The girl had been raised in a very privileged environment. And yet somehow she also possessed a strong sense of responsibility. And while she could be a bit arrogant, she usually then would turn around and get her hands dirty the same as the rest of them. And she had more courage and smarts than many an officer Zoe had had the misfortune to serve under.

Now if only people would stop calling her Princess. It was fun to see her squirm every time Mal used the term as an insult though.

"Captain Washburn, General, Princess."

Oh yeah. That was another thing. Now technically Zoe was an officer herself. All of Serenity's crew had been given official ranks within the Rebel army once they'd joined. All except River and Book of course. Most were Commanders, though she had been given the rank of Captain, while officially Mal was a rear admiral or some such nonsense. None of them paid much attention. Mal was still the Captain and that was quite good enough for them.

"Did you boys have fun?" Zoe asked Biggs. She refused to stand on ceremony for anyone, not even, or perhaps especially, higher ranking officers.

"Bit dull actually." Biggs said, keeping a straight face. He personally loved Zoe's style, though it grated on some of his comrades. "No signs of life, but if anything does come sniffing around, we'll know about it."

"Beacons are all up then?" General Riekeen asked. "And Skywalker?"

"He went to check out a meteorite that fell nearby."

"With all the meteor activity around here it might make it harder to spot any Imperial forces that stumble across us." Zoe pointed out.

"My thoughts exactly." the General mused.

Leia frowned. She had become quite fond of Luke, and didn't like the idea of him out in the frozen wastes all alone.

Biggs saw the frown and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry Princess." he told her. "Luke's a big boy now. Besides we grew up on a planet not so very different from this."

"Biggs you grew up on a planet that's the exact opposite of this one." Leia countered.

"But the basics of survival are the same. Stay hydrated, stay covered. Get indoors as soon as you can." He was pulling this out of his rear. To tell the truth, he was trying to reassure himself as much as her. He and Luke were two small town dreamers out in the big bad galaxy. It was thrilling, but also terrifying. And Biggs believed Luke was handling it better. At least his young friend was hiding his fear better. Snow and ice had become Biggs' least favorite thing ever.

* * *

As the resident Shepherd, Book could have had his own quarters. But when he wasn't administering to the spiritual needs of the flock, he found he preferred to spend his time in Serenity. There was an energy to the ship that most of the rebel bases lacked. A feeling of home.

He wasn't the only one either. Even though they had all made friends in the rebellion, the crew of the Serenity still seemed to cling to each other, and particularly to the ship. Even Simon kept his room here.

But the ship felt different now. Colder almost, in a way that had nothing to do with temperature. Inara had exuded a warmth that he missed. And he found that he even missed Jayne. That had been an unusual friendship he supposed. A man of God, and a crude, ruthless mercenary. Perhaps it was because Jayne had reminded him of the 'good old days'. And he had been sure he'd seen something in Jayne. A glimmer of a better man than he pretended to be.

But whether Jayne was a good man or not, he was not interested in any high minded causes. He had left about the same time as Inara.

Book glanced up from his reading when Wash came into the mess.

"Please tell me there's caff." the pilot said.

"Your prayers are answered." Book smiled. "How goes the retrofitting? The speeders up to snuff yet?"

"Almost. We should be done by tonight." Wash was a pilot by trade, not a mechanic. But as a pilot he had a perspective the mechanics found useful. He'd been able to spot problems before they became "interesting".

He held the cup of hot caff, just enjoying the heat of it. "I hope our next base is somewhere warmer. The empire would never think to look for us on a resort planet would they?"

* * *

Maybe he'd gotten too used to being in the black. Being cooped up planet-side was what had him feeling restless. Or it was not currently having something to do. That's it, he was bored. Or he was worried about Luke. The young man was not _quite_ crew. But he was getting there, and Mal didn't like the idea of him out alone on this inhospitable rock. The only thing he knew for certain was that he was _not_ missing Inara.

Whatever the reason, Mal found that when he had spare moments, his mind started to brood on the many things that were bothering him. And when Mal brooded, anyone he came in contact with tended to suffer the consequences.

Leia almost always managed to find him at the absolute wrong times.

"Mal." she called to him from down the corridor.

He stopped, closing his eyes and trying to reign in his temper. There was no need to go starting trouble. Except sometimes he enjoyed trouble. Especially when it involved keeping certain high horsed individuals from getting too high.

"Yes Princess?" he asked, managing to not put _too_ much contempt into the word. His sarcastic bow probably undid all his hard work though.

Leia ground her teeth, and worked very hard to not respond in kind. You would think that she was Emperor Palpatine himself the way he treated her sometimes. They'd started out on the wrong foot but surely he couldn't still be holding all that against her. One of these days he'd push her too far and she'd remind him of just which one of them had had their entire planet destroyed and everyone they knew and loved killed.

"Has any progress been made with the speeders?" she asked. She'd been going to check herself.

They'd tried calling the hangar but between equipment noise and what sounded like loud music being played, there was no sense trying to get a report that way. Since Commanders Frye and Washburn were overseeing the project, and they reported directly to Reynolds, she'd thought to save herself the trip when she spotted him.

She had occasionally managed to have some decently civil conversations with the man. This obviously was not going to be one of them.

"They'll be done as soon as they finish." Mal said shortly. "They been workin' round the clock pretty much. Should be done soon enough." he elaborated after noticing she hadn't stopped walking with him. "Kaylee's the best mechanic in the 'verse. They'll probably all be better than when you got 'em anyhow."

Ah, there it was. That slight softening of his features and tone whenever he got to bragging about his crew. Leia had begun noticing that. Even started to see it around Luke sometimes.

Mal sighed. Now if they could all just stop getting stir-crazy, maybe they wouldn't all wind up like-

"River!" Leia shouted in surprise. They'd rounded a corner and found the young woman doing a hand stand in the middle of the corridor.

"Luke's upside down." River told them bemusedly.

_To be continued.._.


End file.
